Lulu vs. BooksOasis: Which Storefront Pays Authors More?

Lulu and BooksOasis both give independent authors a place to sell print and ebooks directly to readers, with each print copy made to order. They look similar at first glance, but they charge in opposite ways. Lulu takes a share of the profit on each sale and charges no upfront fee. BooksOasis charges a flat yearly plan and takes no percentage of the price.

Which model pays you more depends on your prices, your format mix and how many books you sell. This guide explains how each platform pays, works out the price at which one overtakes the other on print, compares reach and features, and ends with a practical recommendation. Figures are checked at each platform's own help pages.

Before either platform, you need files that print well. LiberScript exports print-ready PDFs at your chosen trim size and clean EPUBs, and those files work on Lulu, BooksOasis and every other major platform, so you format once and publish wherever you like.

At a glance: Lulu vs. BooksOasis

How Lulu pays

Lulu's Creator Revenue Guide sets out a simple formula. For a print book sold on the Lulu Bookstore, the retail price minus the printing cost gives the gross profit, which is split 80/20: 80% to you, 20% to Lulu. For ebooks sold on the Lulu Bookstore, the profit is split 90/10.

Lulu gives an example: a US Trade paperback with a printing cost of $5.54 and a retail price of $11.99 leaves $6.45 of gross profit, of which you earn 80%, about $5.16.

Through Lulu's Global Distribution to other retailers, the retailer takes a distribution fee of 50% of the retail price on print before the split, so profits outside the Lulu Bookstore are much lower. Ebooks in Global Distribution carry a one-time $4.99 submission fee per new ebook. Lulu also offers Lulu Direct, which connects to your own online store so print orders are fulfilled automatically.

How BooksOasis pays

BooksOasis is a bookstore for independent authors and small presses. You pay a flat yearly plan to list your catalogue, and it takes no percentage of your price. Every ebook sale pays you 100% of the price. For print, you earn the price minus the printing cost and a handling fee of 30% of that printing cost, and the reader pays shipping at checkout, so shipping never comes out of your earnings.

Your dashboard shows each print format's printing cost and its minimum price (the printing cost plus the fee), and a print format can't be sold below it. Every sale, ebook or print, is written to an earnings ledger you can see.

Print: the price where each pays more

The two print formulas behave differently as your price rises. Lulu keeps 20% of the profit, so its share grows with your price. BooksOasis's fee is tied to the printing cost, not the price, so every extra dollar of price above the minimum is yours.

If the printing cost were the same on both platforms, the two would pay exactly the same at a price of 2.5 times the printing cost. Below that price, Lulu's Bookstore pays more per copy; above it, BooksOasis pays more.

Illustration only. Printing costs differ between platforms and depend on your trim size, page count, paper and binding. Check each platform's own quote for your book.

In practice, printing costs won't be identical, so use each platform's own quote. The pattern still holds: at modest prices close to the printing cost, a profit-share model is kind to you; at fuller prices, a model that doesn't take a percentage of the price is.

Ebooks: 90% of profit vs. 100% of price

For ebooks sold in each platform's own store, Lulu pays 90% of the profit and BooksOasis pays 100% of the price. On a $4.99 ebook, that difference is modest per copy, but it adds up across a catalogue, and BooksOasis has no price bands or delivery charges to work around.

There is one important difference in how readers receive ebooks. Lulu Bookstore buyers download the file. BooksOasis ebooks are read in the Oasis Reader app on phones, tablets and computers, synced across devices, and aren't handed out as downloadable files. Some readers prefer a file they can move to any device; some authors prefer that their ebook isn't passed around as a file. Decide which matters more to you and your readers.

The yearly plan: when it pays for itself

Lulu has no listing fee, so a book that sells nothing costs you nothing. BooksOasis charges a flat plan whether you sell one copy or a thousand. The Starter plan is $29.99 a year for up to 10 books, which is roughly the cost of a paperback or two.

For an author with a handful of books selling steadily, the plan is recovered quickly, especially through ebooks, where every sale pays in full. For a single book that sells rarely, a no-fee platform may make more sense until sales grow.

Reach: where readers find you

Lulu offers several doors: the Lulu Bookstore, Global Distribution to other retailers, and Lulu Direct for your own website. That flexibility is its strength, though sales through retailers pay much less, as Lulu's guide notes.

BooksOasis offers one door, its own store, with genre shelves, series pages, a Coming Soon shelf for pre-orders, and banners for books on sale. It won't place your book with other retailers or bookshops. Many authors treat it as one strong storefront among several rather than their only channel.

Formats, files and extras

Lulu is known for a wide range of print formats, including options popular for photo books, journals and workbooks. BooksOasis focuses on trade books: five common trims (5 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 7 x 10 and 8.5 x 11 inches), paperbacks from 32 to 800 pages and hardcovers from 24 to 800, with an automatic print-readiness check and a downloadable cover template marked with the spine, safe area and barcode area.

BooksOasis also includes series pages with reading order, pre-orders with a release date, promotional prices with start and end dates, verified-purchase reviews, and author and imprint pages, with unlimited pen names on one account.

Two authors, one year

Numbers make the trade-off clearer. Picture two authors, each using a single storefront for a year.

The first has one novel, priced as a $3.99 ebook and a $10.99 paperback close to its printing cost, and sells a few copies a month. With no listing fee and a paperback priced near cost, Lulu's profit share suits this author well: nothing is paid in slow months, and at a low print price the 80% split leaves slightly more per copy than a fee tied to printing.

The second has six books in a series, priced as $4.99 ebooks and $16.99 paperbacks, and sells steadily, mostly ebooks. Here the flat plan does the work. Every ebook sale pays the full $4.99 instead of 90% of the profit, and at a full print price the fixed handling fee takes less than a 20% share would. Over a year, the $29.99 plan is covered many times over.

Most authors sit somewhere between the two. The useful question is not which platform is cheaper in general, but which one pays more on the books and prices you actually sell.

Who owns the reader relationship

Both platforms process the sale, so neither gives you the kind of customer list you would build on your own website. If growing a mailing list matters most, the strongest tool is your own newsletter, fed by a reader magnet and links in the back of every book. Lulu Direct can help here, because sales happen in your own online shop. BooksOasis readers buy and read within BooksOasis, so the way to bring them back to you is the same as on any store: back matter that points to your newsletter and your next book, and an author page that shows everything you've written.

Whichever you choose, write the back matter with care. A reader who finishes your book is the most likely person to buy the next one, and the page after "The End" is where that decision happens.

Using both

Neither platform requires exclusivity, so you can use both. A common pattern is to use Lulu Direct if you run your own online shop and want print orders fulfilled from it, and list the same books on BooksOasis as a storefront with its own readers where every ebook sale pays in full. Keep list prices consistent so no reader feels they paid more in one place.

When Lulu fits better

• You want no upfront cost while you test a single book.
• You price print close to the printing cost.
• You want your own website to sell print through Lulu Direct.
• You need a specialist format such as a photo book.
• You want retail distribution through Lulu's partners and accept the lower margin.

When BooksOasis fits better

• You sell ebooks and want the whole price of each sale.
• You price print at a full trade price, well above the printing cost.
• You have several books and want one flat yearly cost instead of a share of every sale.
• You want a storefront with series pages, pre-orders and promotions built in.

Frequently asked questions

Does Lulu charge a fee to publish? There is no fee to list on the Lulu Bookstore. Lulu keeps 20% of the profit on print and 10% on ebooks sold there. Ebooks in Global Distribution carry a one-time $4.99 submission fee.

What does BooksOasis cost? A yearly plan: $29.99 for up to 10 books, $179 for 100 and $599 for 500. It takes no percentage of your price.

Which pays more on a paperback? It depends on your price and each platform's printing cost. With equal printing costs, the two pay the same at 2.5 times the printing cost; Lulu's Bookstore pays more below that and BooksOasis pays more above it.

Can I sell the same book on both? Yes. Neither requires exclusivity.

Do BooksOasis readers get a file to download? No. BooksOasis ebooks are read in the Oasis Reader app on any device, with the reader's place, highlights and notes synced.

Will LiberScript files work on both? Yes. Export the print PDF at the trim size you'll use, and build each cover from the platform's own template, since spine widths and templates differ.

For more on selling direct, see selling print books direct and print-on-demand costs on the BooksOasis publisher site, and our LiberScript vs. Lulu guide.

The bottom line

Lulu shares in your profit and asks nothing upfront, which suits low prices, single books and authors who want Lulu Direct on their own website. BooksOasis charges one flat plan and takes nothing from your price, which suits authors with several books, full print prices and ebook sales they'd like to keep in full. Format your book once in LiberScript and you can test both and let your own numbers decide.